A couple weeks ago, I mentioned the push for the federal government to take over all student loans for college students. In case you missed it, that was tacked on to the healthcare bill. It’s now apparently going to be reality.
For those unaccustomed to how Congress works, let me explain that it has become routine to attach unrelated items to a bill. Healthcare and student loans? They go together . . . how?
I will repeat the major concern about this that I stated previously: this now means that the federal government can exercise censorship on colleges and universities. For instance, if a Christian university, such as the one where I teach, is told to stop teaching a certain doctrine that goes against the political winds—e.g., homsexuality is a sin—and the university balks at the command, the government can then threaten to withhold loans from students attending that university, thereby reducing the student population and leading to the university’s inability to meet its financial obligations.
Under this kind of pressure, Christian colleges and universities will be tested for sure: do they really believe what they say they believe, or will they sell out their convictions for the promise of continued financial help?
I have yet to see a political cartoon dealing with this issue. I fear that even conservatives aren’t all that concerned about this provision, and that they fail to see the threat.
There’s no doubt about it: the threat is real.
Meanwhile, education as a whole continues its spiral downward. Maybe our biggest issue shouldn’t be the debt after all.
How do we handle the downward spiral?
When will we wake up and recognize the problem?
So that’s what it takes? In case you’re not sure, we’re in serious trouble.
I’ve written so many posts focusing on education, that I decided to add an “Education” category to my list on the right sidebar. If you want to review all my posts on this subject, just click on “Education.”